What led you to pursue a career in counseling?
My name is Sydney Kittrell and I’m a therapist at Optimum Joy. I realized that I wanted to be a therapist when I took a season to really intentionally reflect about what I love, what I’m good at, what brings me joy, and I realized so much of it was really meaningful, intentional conversation with people. I love that and so I thought maybe that’s in the realm of psychology and I loved learning about the human brain and how our thoughts and feelings and behavior all interconnect and I did some research around that, but ultimately that just wasn’t hitting home for me—the academic research side of it—and I realized through that it’s really the people interaction that I love and that’s how I kind of discovered, okay, being a therapist would be the dream for me.
What has your experience been like at Optimum Joy?
So for the past year I’ve been a clinical resident at Optimum Joy and I’ve really enjoyed working with my clients. I’ve learned so much from them and also learned about myself, but it’s just made me grow in confidence that I’m excited to be a therapist and it’s really meaningful, fulfilling work for me. It’s exciting for me.
Who do you enjoy working with?
Now that I’m a full-time staff member, I found that I really enjoy working with teenagers. It’s such an exciting time of life, lots of change and growth and they’re really asking the questions of “who am I, who do I want to be, how do I want to treat people.” And I love walking alongside with them and figuring out the answers to those questions and I found when working with adults, we often spend so much time deconstructing narratives about themselves in the world, but with teenagers we kind of get to begin with asking those questions and I’ve really enjoyed that.
Can you tell us about your focus on body image and food relationships?
Another population that I’m interested in is working with anyone that has a complex relationship with food or their body, whether that’s disordered eating or an eating disorder or just constant preoccupation with how they look. That’s been a part of my story and I haven’t always had a great relationship with my body, so working with that population is really special for me and it can be really empowering, fulfilling work to help someone kind of re-examine all those messages they were told about how they should look.
What would you say to someone who is skeptical about therapy?
I’m also open to seeing a wide variety of people. I really enjoyed working with people that come into therapy pretty skeptical and kind of thinking like, “is this for me? What is this?” And it’s such a fun process to say, yes, therapy is for you. This is about your goals, your values. This is a safe, sacred space and I’m not here to judge you or tell you what to do. It’s really a place for you to reflect and process and for me to give you the relevant skills that you need.
What brings you joy in your personal life?
What brings me joy is connecting other people. I think the most fun thing is when I can bring a bunch of different people that I love that haven’t met each other and then they start talking and they connect and have all these beautiful moments. And then I also love all the classic things—hanging out with my family, friends. I’m a major introvert, so hosting parties and seeing people connect is really fun for me.
Outside the office, I love to be outside, whether that’s hiking or camping or—this may sound cheesy—but even just walking to work and noticing a beautiful tree or noticing a beautiful leaf. I really love nature. I really love nature and think being in nature can be therapeutic in and of itself.
How has your background in wilderness therapy influenced you?
In the past I’ve worked in a wilderness therapy setting and found that really beneficial when people were able to be in nature and get away from their phones and experiencing the stars every night and seeing the sunrise and the sunset. So I tell my clients anytime that you can get away from nature and just notice something outside of yourself and your body can often be therapeutic.
What is your favorite part of being a therapist?
One of my favorite parts about being a therapist is being able to witness those really brave and courageous moments with my clients. So whether that’s going back and re-examining this old narrative of “I was discouraged and I didn’t do well in this situation” and kind of re-examining and thinking, okay, I was actually really brave during that time of adversity—and that little reframe changes everything.
I’ve also seen clients be really brave when they kind of take a deep breath and say, “I’ve never told anyone else this, but…” And together we unpack sometimes years of secrecy and shame and it can lead to so much more self-compassion and self-understanding. That’s when I get really excited to be a therapist and it’s really fulfilling work.
What is your perspective on the therapeutic journey?
I’m not going to sit here and say therapy is easy, it’s a walk in the park, all your problems will be fixed if you come to therapy, because that’s not reality. But I do think therapy is worth it because you are worth it and you’re coming in to think about your goals, your values, what you want out of life. And it can be a hard and difficult process, but ultimately therapy is worth it because you are worth it.
